DEVELOPMENT AND SOLIDARITY ECONOMY STRATEGIES IN BRAZIL: CASE STUDIES
Kátia SANTOS
PhD. University of the State of Amapa/Researcher of the Study Group on Educational Policy and Management, Brazil
katia.santos@ueap.edu.br
Hermínia GONÇALVES
PhD. Assistant Professor at Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), and Senior researcher at Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies (CETRAD), Vila Real, Portugal
hgoncalves@utad.pt
Teresa SEQUEIRA
PhD. Assistant Professor at Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), and Senior researcher at CETRAD, Vila Real, Portugal
tsequeir@utad.pt
Francisco DINIZ
PhD. Associate Professor with Abilitation retired from UTAD, and Senior researcher at CETRAD, Vila Real, Portugal
fdiniz@utad.pt
Abstract
The solidarity economy is guided by the guidelines of sustainable development, presenting the principles of self-management (as a mechanism for valuing freedom), equality between members and the exaltation of solidarity. This article aimed to analyze the development of income generating activities based on solidarity economy strategies, explaining individual and territorial impacts in the State of Amapá, located in the extreme north of Brazil, in order to show the main state development policies adopted. We used a qualitative research, with the selection of four projects for case studies, in order to measure the main advances and challenges that are required in the segment, as well as the impacts of the development policies to the solidarity economy in the projects studied. This study identified the need for restructuring in the formats of management policies of government agencies, which should operate in a harmonious and articulated way, but rather act in isolation and without effective communication between them, impairing the quality and result of the services offered. With regard to the impacts of the solidarity economy for the enterprises, it was verified that the activities investigated achieved financial return, which could be substantially intensified, if there was a better structuring in the development policies.
Keywords: Development, Solidary Economy, Public policy, State of Amapá JEL classification: R58, L31, I38
1. Introduction
Solidary economy is inserted in a significantly complex and dynamic context, since it appears as a differentiated possibility within a model with exposed fragilities and that tries to make any attempt to change its logic as if it were a foreign body in an organism. The constant crises and disintegrations demonstrated by the capitalist economy are increasingly driving the search for alternatives, either by organized civil society or by the state, as systematizing rules and political actions.
Given the continental nature of the Brazilian territory and the abrupt economic and cultural differences that exist between the regions, the present investigation was delimited in the extreme north of Brazil, specifically in the State of Amapá, which has quite historical and geographical characteristics differentiated and interesting in the national context. Being located within the Brazilian Amazon, and possessing a significantly privileged location in logistic terms, the State of Amapá is bathed by the largest river in the world, in volume of
water and extension, the Amazon, being also cut by the Equator, which allows an equatorial climate, intense sun and periods of heavy rains. It has many riverside communities, settlements that settle on the riverbanks, communities that live on stilts (wooden huts built on the water) and maintained with the natural resources of forests and fishing.
Regarding the objectives, the methodology of this study has two focuses: (i) it has an exploratory character, since it seeks to provide greater familiarity with the research problem, with a view to making it more explicit, involving a bibliographical survey, interviews with people who had practical experiences with the problem researched and analysis of examples that stimulate the understanding (Gil, 2009); (ii) is still explanatory, since it is concerned with identifying the factors that determine or contribute to the occurrence of the phenomena (Gil, 2009). Regarding the second focus, the present research sought to understand the results of the solidarity economy in the daily reality of the associates, and also to understand the impacts of the solidarity economy policy for the appreciated enterprises.
Regarding the approach, the present research is predominantly qualitative, preoccupied with aspects of reality that cannot be quantified, focusing on the understanding and explanation of the dynamics of social relations. It should be noted that in two moments of this research, data analyzes were performed, where previously existing information banks were used.
We chose to use multiple case studies, which according to Gil (2009), jointly study more than one case to investigate a particular phenomenon. They are used to establish comparisons and to test and perfect theories. To select the ventures, we used as a basis the purposively stratified sampling, which is defined by Patton (1990) as the one that focuses on the characteristics of a particular subgroup, to facilitate its comparison with other subgroups, as well as the criteria of case sampling randomly selected, which according to Patton (1990) are more indicated to guarantee reliability to the study.
This article is structured in two parts. The first deals with the themes of sustainable development and solidarity economy, discussing their concepts and conflicts. In the second, the results of the four case studies carried out in enterprises of the solidarity economy in the State of Amapá are presented.
2. Sustainable development and solidarity economy: impasses and challenges
It is perceived that the developmentalist appeal is much more segregated, it excludes, than it attracts social benefits, much more violently than it protects. In this regard, Morin (2000) in Knowledge in Local and Global Knowledge, warns that small civilizations with language own wisdom and culture are threatened because they are small and lack the power to defend themselves. Their protection today is very difficult. Protection is not just about making reservations - in zoo design. Protection is not just integration, because it also means disintegration of cultures.
According to Flávia Piovesan (2002), the right to development demands an ethical globalization and solidarity. The development is to be conceived as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people can enjoy, to adopt the design of Amartya Sen. It should be added that the Vienna Declaration of 1993 emphasizes that the right to development as a universal and inalienable right, an integral part of fundamental human rights, and reiterates that this Vienna Declaration recognizes the interdependence between democracy, development and human rights.
According to Singer (2004), the desired development should gradually make the relative strengths of enterprises that do not aim only or mainly to profits and so make it more favorable to the former. When the economy going to have solidarity traits, to be formed by individual enterprises and associated family and self-managed enterprises, and is hegemonic, the direction of technological progress will be another, as will cease to be the product of inter-capitalist competition to aim at the satisfaction of needs considered by the majority to be a priority.
The worldwide disintegration through which capitalism passes, in its neoliberal modality, is a widely discussed and researched reality. Developed countries, with supposed unswerving economies, feel the brunt of such disruption. Indeed, this weight is reflected in different social axes, whether in the financial transactions of the owners of capital, whether in the states, bringing to seek remedial measures to crises, the civil society, who feel the greatest need to
organize and spend services that are no longer assumed by the State. However, this context mainly affects society, which suffers such reflexes in different ways, but above all, by the reduction of its capacity of consumption and by the reduction of the services offered by the State.
2.1. Reflections on sustainable development
According to Guzmán (1998), sustainable development arises to face the ecological crisis, making compatible levels of consumption that meet the needs of all humanity, within ecological limits. The ultimate causes of such crisis are clearly linked to the capitalist process of appropriation of nature.
In this context, several international meetings took place, which resulted in an infinity of scientific reports, carried out by diverse researchers and personalities of different nature. The following table summarizes the main events during the 1990s.
Table 1: Theoretical frameworks for the sustainable development of international organizations (until the 1990s)
Event Discovery Nature
Stockholm Conference (1972)
Advanced societies discover the existence of a single world
A first warning of environmental deterioration
Works of the Club of Rome
(1972-1974)
It is impossible infinite growth with finite resources (Methodology of synergistic and
anti-synergistic interrelations)
First official studies on environmental deterioration Reports (1st and 2nd) Empirical
rationale. Global Report Year
2000 (1980) President Carter
Threat of survival of human life on the planet (it is not extendable to everyone the North way of life)
First diagnosis on the environmental deterioration of the biosphere. Brundtland Report (1987) World Commission on Environment and Development
Official definition of the concept of Sustainable Development
First discussion of the method to face the ecological crisis.
Rio Conference (1992)
Earth Charter (Agenda 21: 27 points)
Climate Charter (Climate Agreement)
Code of Behavior to be Followed in the 21st Century Addressing climate change as a
consequence of climate change Conference on
Environment and Development (1992)
Convention on Biodiversity To act in relation to the increasing occupation by the human species of the habitats of
other species. Source: Guzmán (1998)
The United Nations (UN) resumed in the early 1980s the debate on environmental issues raised by environmental social movements. Norway's Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland led the World Commission on Environment and Development. The commission was created in 1983 after an evaluation of the 10 years of the Stockholm Conference, with the aim of promoting worldwide audiences and producing a formal outcome of the discussions. The final document of these studies was called Our Common Future or Brundtland Report, which was presented in 1987. The document is an explicit proposal for sustainable development.
According to Guzmán (1998), sharing the definition presented by the Eco 92 Conference, the concept of sustainable development essentially consists of potentializing those development schemes that aim to satisfy the needs of the present generation without compromising the capacity of future generations, to satisfy their own needs, and not the indiscriminate economic growth of the region involved, be it a rural area, a municipality, a country or the biosphere as a whole. The concept stipulated by Eco 92 states the following: It is capable of guaranteeing the needs of future generations.
Almeida (1998) emphasizes many are the contradictions perceived in the discussions that involve sustainable development. A great difficulty lies in the lack of even conceptual
consensus and development principles. Because it has a wide area of scope, the idea of sustainable development is demanding the establishment of much more complex parameters, and because it is a very elastic term, allows to harbor different conceptions of economic growth and the use / management of natural resources, generating doubts not only conceptual, but mainly, concerning the practical implications of that term.
Singer (2004) advances with the notion that solidarity development relies on the same advances in knowledge and its application to human endeavors as capitalist development. But solidarity development proposes a very different use of the productive forces thus achieved: these forces should be made available to all producers in the world, so that no country, region or locality is excluded from its use, and therefore the benefits that will provide.
2.2. Solidarity economy: concepts and differentials
In addressing the origin of the Solidarity Economy (ES), Lechat (2002) emphasizes that in England and the United States several cooperative communities or villages were created in the nineteenth century but failed to last for more than a few years, and numerous experiences of workers 'cooperatives led by the British trade union movement, after several successes and democratic advances, were extinguished by the fierce reaction of the bosses' class and by the government's declared hostility. The most famous cooperative of consumption, the cooperative of the Equitable Pioneers of Rochedale, has established a letter of principles that until today inspires the cooperativism and its legislation at world-wide level.
France Filho (2002) stresses the importance of remembering the fact that it was precisely the associative experiences of the first half of the nineteenth century in Europe - in particular the so-called mutual relief societies - that first conceived the idea of social protection. That is, the embryo, in terms of idea, of the modern conception of solidarity via the redistributive function of the State, as expressed by the state social security system, lies precisely in some social economy practices begun in the first half of the nineteenth century in Europe, which were, however, later appropriated by the State.
According to Laville (1994), solidarity economy is characterized as a set of economic activities whose logic is distinct from both the logic of the capitalist market and the logic of the state. Unlike the capitalist economy, centered on the capital to be accumulated and that works from competitive relations having as objective the attainment of individual interests, the solidary economy organizes itself from human factors, favoring the relations where the social tie is valued through reciprocity and adopts community forms of ownership. It is also distinguished from the state economy which presupposes a central authority and forms of institutional property. But the author warns us that the displacement of these manifestations in time and space - the first manifestation was pre-Keynesian and the present one corresponds to the crisis of the Keynesian compromise - points to the limits of a conceptualization of solidarity economy in terms of third sector.
If the spring that moves the capitalist economy is profit and competition, in solidarity economy logic is different. The main drivers of this economic alternative are solidarity and a spirit of cooperation. Solidarity economy has been gradually expanding, and this expansion represents a "light at the end of the tunnel" amid so much chaos, poverty, inequality and exclusion imposed by capitalism and its mechanisms of perpetuating oppression.
3. Employment of the solidar economy of Amapá State: a studies- case
The Northern Region covers almost half of the Brazilian territory, with the largest extension, which is divided among seven states, home to the largest tropical forest in the world, the Amazon, and between the dense forests and the great rivers a cultural and ethnic immensity is celebrated. The State of Amapá stands out in this context, which stands out for its location in the extreme north of Brazil and still being bathed by the largest river in the world, in water level and end, the Amazon.
Although it still has many riverside communities, peculiar to the reality of the Brazilian Amazon, the State of Amapá has shown a significant population growth, in order to integrate more and more the characteristics of large urban centers. According to the latest census, conducted in 2010 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the population increase was 40.18%, well above the national average of 12.33%, and also of the
North Region, 22, 98%, making up the highest rate of population growth in Brazil. Such growth reflects the economic expectations linked to the State, driven by the creation in the 1990s of the Free Trade Area of Macapa and Santana (State Capital and second largest city in population number, respectively), and also of the implantation of large mining multinationals, which generated broad employment prospects.
It has an estimated population (IBGE, 2014) of 750,912 inhabitants, distributed in 16 municipalities, which together amount to an area of 143,453.7 km², representing 3.70% of the North Region and 1.67% of the entire Brazilian territory. The cities with the largest population in the State are Macapa (Capital), with population estimated at 446,757 inhabitants, Santana, with 110,565 and Laranjal do Jari, with 44,777.
Entrepreneurship is progressively strengthened, in line with the rapidly growing population of the state. In addition to the evolution of entrepreneurship, the solidarity characteristics of traditional communities propel a challenging trend, the solidarity economy, which, as seen in the previous chapter, contrasts the characteristics of traditional capitalist enterprises by bringing as a differential the self-management, solidarity between partners and the concern with natural resources.
This article will analyze four enterprises of the economy of solidarity of the State of Amapá, seeking to understand the main advances and challenges to be faced, as well as the public policies developed by the development agencies. It is necessary, for a better understanding of the dynamics of the insertion of the enterprises, a brief analysis on the State. The policy of fostering solidarity economy is officially developed in the State of Amapá through the Secretariat of Labor and Entrepreneurship (SETE) and the Regional Superintendence of Labor and Employment (SRTE / AP), being monitored and systematized by the Amapaense of Solidarity Economy Forum (FAES).
3.1. Promotion of solidarity economy in Amapá
Within the State, the State Secretariat for Labor and Entrepreneurship has the mission of formulating, coordinating and implementing public employment, labor and income policies, aiming at the productive insertion of people of economically active age, prioritizing the demand for greater social vulnerability, seeking to improve the quality of life of the population of the State of Amapá and value the workforce. Among the different focuses of action is the solidarity economy, which is treated and fostered by a specific nucleus for this purpose.
The Nucleus of Associativism and Solidarity Economy (NAES), linked to the Secretariat, has the purpose of disseminating the culture of associativism and cooperativism as an entrepreneurial alternative for the generation of jobs and income, and to stimulate the organization of entities through institutional support. It provides the technical support and enables the training of cooperatives and associations, stimulating the expansion of associative experiences of a productive character.
Another important institution supporting solidarity economy in Amapá is the Regional Superintendence of Labor and Employment (SRTE / AP), which is a federal body linked to the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE), whose mission is to ensure compliance with legislation labor, and public policies for employment, work and income, through the following programs: Intermediation and Employee Qualification, First Employment, Employee Labor and Social Security Issuance (CTPS), Unemployment Insurance, and to foster Solidarity Economy, with a view to the development and well-being of the citizen.
It is verified that the solidarity economy has a specific program in the SRTE / AP, counting with own resources for the development of its actions. The policy is coordinated by the Nucleus of Solidarity Economy (NES), which is in the organizational structure of the Superintendency.
The Amapaense Forum of Solidarity Economy (FAES) functions as a representation of the National Forum of Solidary Economy. It has three representatives in Amapá, who are militants of social movements inserted in the solidarity economy and have undergone training of managers in Solidary Economy. According to Santos (2017), in an interview with representatives of the Forum, they point out that the greatest difficulties faced for the development of public policy aimed at strengthening the Solidarity Economy, refers to the
lack of training of managers. They point out that lately the Solidary Economic Developments (EES) have been training constantly in the ES area, are politicized, and the management has difficulty participating in these capacities, vacancies are offered, but there is no interest, this implies the execution of public policies. Sometimes they even have access to resources and can not execute or execute in a wrong way, because they do not know or identify the demands of ES in the state, as has happened in Amapá with the last resources destined for this purpose.
Solidarity economy advanced significantly in Amapá. However, it can be seen that the development of entrepreneurship is still insufficient given the needs and difficulties presented, which could be minimized through various actions by the managers of the solidarity economy policy, some of them with low complexity and also low energy expenditures, such as the feasibility of dialogue and integration among the different bodies / entities that work with the solidarity economy. Next, we will discuss specific cases of amapaenses enterprises, through four case studies focused on different areas and specificities, in order to reach a broader analysis on the reality of the solidarity economy in the State, and its impacts on daily life of entrepreneurs.
3.2. Solidarity ventures: studies-case
This item returns to the central objective of this article, to understand the main advances and challenges experienced by the enterprises of the solidarity economy and the development policies, through multiple case studies. We sought to analyze different economic niches, focusing, then, on the reuse of solid waste, food, extractivism and processing of açaí and handicrafts. Among the selected projects, one of them is located in the city of Macapa, Macapa Solid Waste Collectors Association (ACAM), one has its headquarters in the Maruanum community, the Maruanum Louranas Women Association (ALOMA), and two others are located in the municipality of Laranjal do Jari, the Association of Açaí Extractivists of the States of Amapá and Para (ATEAEPA) and the Association of Agroextractivist Women of Alto Cajari (AMAC). To reach the information, entrepreneurs from the four segments were interviewed, as detailed in table 2, presented below.
Table 2: Demonstration of the research target population
Population Target Audience Market niche Amount Association of Waste Collectors President and
Associates
Solid wastes 05 Association of Cajari Women President and
Associates
Food 05
Association of Açaí Extractors of Pará and Amapá President and Associates Extractivism / Food 05 Association of Maruanum Craftsmen President and
Associates
Craft 05
Source: Prepared by the authors
Table 3 below summarizes the main results of the case studies proposed in this study, with the Economic Research Solidarity Projects (ERS) surveyed, the number of members, time of the project, its main characteristics, incentives received by the State, advances and challenges.
Table 3: Solidarity economic enterprises surveyed.
ERS Characteristics Fomentos received
from the State Advances Challenges
A C A M 7 0 p a rt n er s / 2 0 y ea rs Performance: Solid Waste 36 women and 34 men Age range from
19 to 68 years Average income of R $ 788.00 There was no investment in the association in recent years Follow-up by the Amapaense of Solidarity Economy Forum (FAES) Development Agencies: Environment Secretariat (SEMA) and FAES
FAES has been systematically monitoring
the activities of the Documentation update
There has been an awareness that the methodology and results of
selective collection can be advanced Learn teamwork and increase organization
Not covered by any social security benefits The associates seek help to
build a seat outside the landfill so they have more
freedom Complain about working
conditions and lack of respect for the company that controls the landfill
A M A C 2 4 0 p a rt n er s / 1 6 y ea rs Performance: Food (processing of Brazil nuts) Age range from
18 to 37 years Average income
of R $ 1,200.00
Industrial kitchen and equipment made possible by the State
Government Qualification courses were held in business management, customer
service and food handling No investment has been made in the Association in the last 24 months
Organization of communal kitchen
Documentation update There has been an awareness that the methodology and results of
selective collection can be advanced Learn teamwork and increase organization Satisfaction brought to the members by the integration
and harmony of the group Have a social benefit, such as licenses and referral to
social security
Lack of packaging certification by the Sanitary Surveillance
Agency (ANVISA) Need for modernization and acquisition of some
machines A T E A E P A 5 0 p a rt n er s / 1 9 y ea rs Performance: Food (extraction and processing of açaí) Age range of 46-69 years Average income of R $ 1,500.00
Amazon Açaí Project Implanted in 2006 by
SETE No investment has been made in the Association in the last 24 months
The Açaí Project of the Amazon brought integration
and qualification to the associates
They do not have any social benefits, such as licenses or social security
Lack of follow-up and promotion of the State Lack of training for
members There is a need to improve
the organization of the Association It is necessary to widen the
integration between the partners It is important to improve the work environment (the
açaí mixers) A L O M A 1 2 p a rt n er s / 3 0 y ea rs Acting: Handicraft in clay Age range of 40-74 years Average income of R $ 700.00
There was an incentive for the construction of exhibiting tables for the
Association, provided by SETE Partnership with Craftsman's House, linked to SETE for the
commercialization of ceramics and transport No investment has been made in the Association in the last 24 months
Marketing house of Maruanum Participation of regional, national and international
handicraft fairs The integration of the group
is something salutary The ceramics achieved visibility and recognition
throughout the State of Amapá and in many other
states
They do not have any social benefits, such as licenses or social security
They present difficulties for the extraction of the caripé (vegetation that is
joined to the clay) They present difficulties in
getting transportation for the exhibition of ceramics
at fairs Association management
needs to be more active Decrease of SETE's activities with the venture Source: Prepared by the authors
3.2.1. Study-Case 1: Association of Waste Collectors
The scarce public and private investment in infrastructure in the State of Amapá results in a series of urban problems. The issue of disposal of solid waste is one of the serious problems. In the last 10 years, the problem has increased with the emergence of a "dump" that has been installed in the northern area of Macapa, with the consent of municipal public service managers in that area, as shown in figure 1.
The Solid Waste Collectors Association of Macapa was founded on May 2, 1997, and has as its president presently a taster who has been working in this function since 1993. The Association's headquarters is a modest masonry construction located inside the space where the landfill is operationalized. The Headquarters has four small compartments, it is not towed, and currently it houses a scavenger that is of the municipality of Tartarugalzinho (far from Macapa about 3h20min) and returns to its house every 15 days, since this worker does not have where to stay in Macapa, to act as taster.
Figure 1: Macapá controlled landfill cell (2014)
Source: FAES Archive
In the operating space of the company, the landfill and the Association there is also a shed built to carry out the sorting of the waste that is brought by the garbage trucks. However, such a shed is not in operation, and the waste is dumped into what the company calls cells. In the system of planned operation, after the discharge of the garbage trucks into the cells, the collectors would collect, and only later, the area would be covered by landfill to be scattered by tractors, but in reality the actions occur simultaneously.
In the interviews the collectors were unanimous in pointing out the difficulties faced for the collection. They claim that they do not have enough time to collect the waste, and after the arrival of the trucks and the disposal of the material, the machine operators do not have time to collect the waste.
Regarding the results of the management, the president emphasized that there is no remuneration or division of resources in the Association because each partner carries out the commercialization of the collected waste, also affirming that the income obtained by the activity, in general, is the main source of income for members. The income obtained from the activity is insufficient even to pay the expenses, this being an affirmation of the president of the association and the response of great part of the collectors interviewed in the research. According to the president, the average monthly income of the Association is R $ 34,000.00 (thirty and forty thousand reais), and the average monthly income declared by the collectors is 1 to 2 minimum wages.
When asked the president of the association about the main achievement achieved by the association, he mentioned that the approach and orientation of the Amapaense Forum of Solidarity Economy (FAES) was the greatest achievement achieved. And when asked about
the main challenges of ACAM, the president emphasized the need for the company responsible for the landfill to respect the space and the role of the collectors, saying that this is a great difficulty to advance the activities. When asked about what solidarity economy has changed in his life, the president emphasized the satisfaction with the possibility of knowledge, the maturation of experience, and the clarification of the concepts and ideals of solidarity economy.
It should be noted that although the scavengers are inserted in a significantly unfavorable social dynamic, which was highlighted by the results of the presented socioeconomic profile, it should be noted that the activity presents financial results for the members, in order to cover the expenses of the majority of the interviewees (expenses incurred for other purposes, not in function or form of investment in the enterprise). This leads to the understanding that the activity has been positive for the partners, since the investment in the venture is minimal, requiring only the acquisition of security equipment by each partner, and payment of the Association's monthly fee, with the small financial return, in some cases, insufficient, but for the great majority, positive. Besides the purely financial analysis, it is also necessary to highlight the satisfaction and the identification of the collectors with the activity, as well as the identification with the group in which they are inserted. The collectors interviewed emphasized the satisfaction with the maturing of the knowledge about the ideals of the solidarity economy, and with the integration of the group.
3.2.2. Study-Case 2: Cajari Women's Association
The Association of Agroextractivist Women of Cajari (AMAC) is being organized on the initiative of women from the reserve and women from nearby localities, who through meetings have integrated and discussed the importance of the union, mainly because they live in an isolated area . The Association is located in the Extractivist Reserve (RESEX Cajari), which was created for the sustainable use of local populations and meant the reaffirmation, construction and development of a set of social, economic and cultural relations that relate to each other and to the environment around them, thus producing a unique way of life. Ribeiro and Filocreão (2013), emphasize that the main economic activity in this region is the Brazil nut tree extractivism, with agriculture and livestock being considered complementary subsistence activities.
The main activity of the associates is the production of cookies, homemade chocolates, pies, sweets, cakes and brazil nut bread. Food products are sold along with some agricultural products made by women such as sweet potatoes, purple, oranges, bananas and brazil nuts, peeled and peeled. There are two types of production of the nut products, first the individual production that is sold at the fair, and the large-scale production carried out in AMAC's kitchen, developed since 2010, with the projects of National Supply Company (CONAB), for through the Food Acquisition Program (PAA), in which CONAB purchases the association's products to make donations feasible for people in situations of food and nutritional insecurity.
The marketing is done individually by each associate, but it is expected to be able to do the marketing collectively, in a way that favors all associates, including for the purpose of improving their living conditions. Sales can be promoted directly in the trade, fairs or schools, as a source of school meals. In the industrial kitchen of the AMAC currently work the 104 women, who develop activities are divided into smaller groups and take turns using the kitchen during the production period. They arrive in the kitchen at seven o'clock in the morning, and leave at five o'clock in the afternoon.
Unlike the other enterprises analyzed by this research, the AMAC guides the associated women in relation to the social benefits, such as maternity leave, and social security, benefits guaranteed by Brazilian Social Security, in a differentiated regime for rural workers. The AMAC grants the associates the necessary declarations for the entry of the application for maternity, retirement and other benefits that a worker can access.
With regard to the challenges surrounding the Association, the president stressed the need to modernize and purchase some machines in order to increase production, such as a drying equipment for the nut, which is still made in a traditional way, as well as extraction of the chestnut oil, which is not yet used by AMAC. The president emphasized that the Association has some activities that have a very outdated methodology, such as the peeling of the chestnut
manually by the associates, which is still carried out individually, demanding a lot of work time.
3.2.3. Study-Case 3: Association of Açaí Extractors from Pará and Amapá The extraction of the açaí stands out due to the high consumption of the fruit by the riverside communities, and especially of the states of Amapá and Pará in the form of pulp, being the main food of the families in a certain period of the year. The commercialization of the fruit is done through the middlemen to the domestic market and to other states.
In addition to the fruit of the açaí palm tree, the palm tree still stands out for the use of the palm heart, which is widely consumed and commercialized in the region. Açaí's derivatives, especially açaí wine, which until recently were typical delicacies of the North Region, due to their different nutritional properties, began to gain space in the national and international market, integrating the role of diets indicated by renowned nutritionists , and the gymnasium menu, as a energizing and pleasant product.
The açaí palm tree derivatives are part of an important Local Productive Arrangement (APL) for the State of Amapá, focused on export and domestic consumption, which requires policies of articulation of production stages in terms of production technology and technical assistance, disposal, storage and industrialization, in the molds required by international certifications, access to markets, marketing promotion, management and marketing. The fruit is withdrawn manually, as shown in figure 2.
Figure 2: Withdrawal of the açaí
Source: ATEAEPA Archive
The Açaí Extractivists Association of Para and Amapá (ATEAEPA) is located in the southernmost part of the State of Amapá, in the municipality of Laranjal do Jari. The Association deals with the extraction and processing of the pulp of the açaí, fruit very appreciated in the diet of the region. ATEAEPA's activities were stimulated by SETE, through the development of the Açaí Project of the Amazon in 2006, which aimed to structure and streamline the production of açaí pulp in the municipality of Laranjal do Jari, in partnership with the Association.
According to the President, the Association had access to professional qualification, political training and self-management, as well as advice for formalization by SETE, actions taken during the implementation period of the Açaí Project of the Amazon. However, in the last two years the Association has not undergone any similar follow-up or action, and also does not undergo any external evaluation.
When asked about what could be improved in relation to the promotion provided by governmental entities, the president stressed that the Association has not received support currently, nor monitoring by the State, and that such support could improve the activities of the entity. When asked about the main achievements of the Association, the president and the partners interviewed emphasized the acquisition of an area for the operation of the entity in an
urban area, as well as the acquisition of vehicles, made possible by the improvements achieved through the Açaí Project of the Amazon.
Given the potential and importance of the production of açaí pulp to the municipality of Laranjal do Jari, as well as the feasibility demonstrated with the actions already undertaken by the State, the closure of the state development ratifies the lack of preparation and concern for local development, which certainly goes against the discourse of equality and emancipation of the less advanced enterprises, besides being a retrocession for the policy of strengthening the solidarity economy, whose municipality of Laranjal do Jari had already been a reference.
3.2.4. Study-Case 4: Maruanum Craftsmen Women's Association
The Maruanum District is part of the city of Macapa, capital of the State of Amapá, and is a community composed of more than ten villages, or communities, spread along the Maruanum River. The population is composed of descendants of indigenous people who lived there in the past, and descendants of blacks in situations of slavery, brought to the State in the 18th century for the construction of the Fortress of San José de Macapá and who fled because of bad treatment, seeking refuge in distant lands (Mafra, 2003).
The ceramics of the women of the Maruanum, as they are popularly known, are not only a beautiful and important form of cultural expression, they represent the viability of the solidarity economy in the State of Amapá, through the valorisation of knowledge, the encouragement of cooperation, concern and respect for the environment, and the possibility of self-management by traditional communities.
The process of making the ceramics obeys a unique ritual, being totally handmade and giving rise to various forms, such as pots, pots, shapes, plates, ovens, pots, stoves, jugs, among others, as seen in figures 3 and 4. It is denominated, it was ritual because of the existence of a complete set of techniques, religious considerations, and offerings dedicated to the legendary institutions in the process of creation (Mafra, 2003).
Figure 3: Craftsman in activity Figure 4: Ceramics
Source: Tamires Kopp
The marketing of the dishes is done individually by each person, each one is responsible for selling their ceramics, so that there is no division of resources by the Association, making it difficult to evaluate the amount collected annually or monthly. Two interviewees emphasized that the Association does not plan or evaluate the activities of the Maruanum Louran Women Association (ALOMA).
When questioned about the results of the activity, the artisans emphasized that the income achieved with the commercialization of handicrafts is the main source of funds of the members, and the four associates, as well as the president of the Association, stated that the income obtained by the activity is sufficient to pay the debts, without, however, leaving any leftovers.
Regarding the achievements of the Association, the artisans interviewed pointed out the marketing house in the Maruanum, made possible by the Municipality of Macapa, as well as
participation in national and international fairs, with the assistance of the State Government. With regard to the challenges to be faced by ALOMA, the insiders emphasize that the current management needs to be more participatory and active, in order to make the activities more dynamic.
4. Conclusions
The solidarity economy has grown in Brazil in different perspectives. From the social point of view, one can see an increase in the number of undertakings that compose the sector, and also the elevation of clarification regarding the theoretical and ideological context in which these are inserted, since many were inserted in the solidarity economy, without knowing exactly the meaning and nuance differences in comparison to the traditional capitalist economy.
Policies to foster the solidarity economy run counter to a common problem with other public policies, the lack of articulation and integration among them, often driven by
communication problems and political unpreparedness of public leaders. It was clear in this research that the organs of promotion to the solidarity economy sometimes work in a
disjointed way, and the policies are linked to each management mandate. It was observed that, in many development agencies, the exchange of the governors represents a hindrance to the continuity of actions, whether due to the exchange of personnel peculiar to the exchange of government or lack of interest in the use of previous plans, as if each manager had an interest in "making his mark" and breaking with the work prior to his inauguration. Such behavior and reality result in great social losses, since it makes stagnation feasible, and in some cases, a reversal in the course and evolution of politics.
Studies of entrepreneurship have shown that solidarity economy is a viable and
emancipatory alternative, but needs to be better understood and fostered by the state. Their differentials and values, need to be strengthened every day, because in them they emphasize the otherness, that seeks the respect for the other, favoring the tolerance to the differences; hope, which enables persistence, even in the midst of the most obscure difficulties imposed by life; the solidarity that allows the loosening of the knot tied by the spirit of competition, and the awakening of many other symbolically remarkable values.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (COMPETE 2020) [Project No. 006971 (UID/SOC/04011)]; and national funds, through the FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) under the project UID/SOC/04011/2013.
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